This film is part of Free
Women of the Rhondda
Tales of the valley: women recall their lives in the mining communities of the Rhondda
Overview
"A slave to the home" is one participant's memory of daily life for women - while the men were slaves to the mine owners - in a coalmining area of South Wales in the 1920s. The industry was riven by strikes in this era, including the General Strike of 1926, and times were even tougher for the women when the men were out on strike. These four women of the Rhondda Valley speak eloquently to camera - they have clearly been put at ease by the filmmakers - as they tell of lost hopes of careers as a teacher or vet, and recall happier times too.
Related
Miner Miner
Documentary 1950 36 mins Silent Location: Featherstone
Absorbing overview of coalmining in the early years of nationalisation.
Thud and Blunder in Knock off Time Thud and Blunder in Knock off Time
Animation & Artists Moving Image 1964 2 mins
Miners' safety training - marked by stylish animation and gallows humour.
Energy Energy
Advert 1935 42 mins Silent Location: Cardiff/Caerdydd
Coal, between the world wars, makes the industrialised world go round and Cory Bros & Co Ltd, with collieries in south Wales and oil refineries across the globe, is a major player.
Big Pit Big Pit
Industry sponsored film 1978 7 mins Location: Blaenavon
Memories of Blaenavon Colliery, Monmouthshire, as it nears its end.
Guilty Chimneys Guilty Chimneys
Documentary 1954 18 mins
Elegiac sponsored film imploring viewers to "allow the sun to penetrate the haze of ignorance" and relieve British cities of pollution.
People Will Always Need Coal People Will Always Need Coal
Advert 1975 1 mins
Deliriously kitsch recruitment ad for the implausibly glamorous world of coalmining.
Baltimore Q&A Baltimore Q&A
Short interview 2024 28 mins
Directors Christine Molloy and Joe Lawlor dig deep into their thrilling biopic Baltimore, in discussion with Nadia M Oliva.
Joanna Scanlan - Exclusive Q&A Joanna Scanlan - Exclusive Q&A
Short interview 2024 51 mins
Actor and writer Joanna Scanlan talks to Mia Bays, director of the BFI's Filmmaking Fund, about her career in film and television.
Baldwin's N***** Baldwin's N*****
Documentary 1969 44 mins
Horace Ové's striking portrait of the American writer James Baldwin at his sharp-witted best addressing a group of radical West Indian students in 1960s London.
Shoot Your Shot Shoot Your Shot
Drama 2022 12 mins
An emotional stand-off takes flight, as teen best friends Ronit and Brennan come to terms with navigating that fuzzy feeling in their stomachs, all whilst learning to skateboard.
Look Like You Look Like You
Drama 2022 13 mins
While visiting the adoptive family of her eight-year-old biological son, Tara relays advice she gathered from growing up as a queer outcast.
Yellow Yellow
Drama 2023 13 mins
In Taliban controlled Afghanistan, Laili walks into a Chadari store in Kabul to buy her first full body veil from a Talib shopkeeper and face a new future.